Visas and sponsorship

Discuss and record visas
Early job applications
Reference job adverts

As of October 2017 there is a problem for doctors who complete their training in the UK on a Tier 2 visa, when the sponsorship by Health Education England ends.
Doctors then need to identify another sponsor before they can do any work in the UK. This can take several months during which time the doctor has no income.
A tier 2 visa doctor can only apply to work in those posts where there has been a
vacancy for at least 28 days and the job has been advertised on specific sites. Therefore a doctor in training needs to apply for jobs well before completing training.

Discuss and record visas

As an educational supervisor you should check with all doctors in training if they have any visa requirements to train or work in the UK. Discuss the implications of this and record a plan of action for the period before the visa is due to expire.

Early job applications

Plan early job applications for posts that are known to be approves to sponsor a doctor. Employers have to apply to be a sponsor, which can take a few months and requires a fee of around £600-800 (2017 estimate). They then have to apply for the individual doctors sponsorship which also takes a few months with a fee of around £1000-2000 (2017
estimate). Posts have to be vacant and advertised correctly for at least 28 days. Doctors in training with a visa therefore need to apply for posts around six months before they complete training. This is to avoid being at risk of having to leave the UK because they do not have a visa once they complete training.

Reference job adverts

To meet the Resident Labour Market Test requirements for a tier 2 visa applicant all jobs must be vacant and advertised for at least 28 days on the following sites: Jobcentre Plus, Jobcentre online or Universal Jobmatch.

The employer needs to record the reference number and ideally a screenshot of the
advertisement on these sites because the reference number is almost impossible to
retrieve after the advertisement ends. A visa can be rejected on the basis of not holding a reference number for the relevant advertisements.

You are advised to check the latest requirements as the information here may become out of date rapidly.

It is hoped that NHS England, or a similar organisation, will in future take on sponsorship of the Tier 2 visa doctor who completes training so that they can stay in the UK until they find a suitable post.